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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.3%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 7.5%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Power Systems7.5%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.3%
Other87.2%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1441011 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr, Manager- Network Solution Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive support and integration ensure smooth cloud infrastructure operations
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack servers. Potential areas for improvement may include a more flexible pricing model, better technical support, or tutorials from the vendor for users.
Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The C-series is the most valuable."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are agileness, ease of operation, and manageability."
"The solution is easily scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is server management."
"It has centralized our server management and allows us to treat servers like a pool of resources instead of discrete devices."
"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are integration and customization."
"It is very nice and stable with an easy administration GUI."
"The uptime feature is great."
"Power VM gives us the flexibility to increase or decrease machine resources when required."
"They are reliable, their availability is very good, and their scalability is second to none; I can go from really small to very, very large, and still stay on the same platform, still go with a single server, rather than using multiple boxes and clustering them."
"IBM Power Systems are secure and have fast processing."
"I use the hypervisor of IBM Power Systems a lot."
"The solution does not require any maintenance."
"I can have what they call multi-tenancy, meaning that I can have multiple tenants within the same server."
"From a software developer standpoint, virtualization is really the key, as we can more easily spin up a new partition, virtual instance of IBM i."
 

Cons

"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"Its accessibility and manageability can be improved. Currently, we have to visit the office to manage it. It should be manageable outside our network. I would like it to be on the cloud."
"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve by adding a wider portfolio because they only have two main categories, the C-220 and 240. There is no wide range of options as other solutions have, such as Dell. Additionally, if it was more flexible with the configuration it would be good."
"The product's stability and delivery time could be better."
"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."
"I think the pricing is high. Cisco has to look for bundling this solutions with other applications."
"The C-Series is not designed to be as scalable. They are designed to have enough RAM and enough CPU on their own side. If you want scalability, it's better to choose the B-Series— the Blade Servers — because those are much more scalable with Fabric Interconnect."
"I know lab services does a lot of work but systems, if they could include some kind of lab services and bundling of services to get you to the greatest and latest feature at the already included cost"
"In the next release, I would like to see additional graphical dashboards to help the administrators access information more easily."
"Better manage heterogeneous footprints of all the different operating systems that are out there across one common interface."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"Price and complexity related to the management of the solution are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required."
"The solution is highly-priced."
"Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow."
"There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is expensive."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"The price of the solution could be better when compared to other solutions. However, when we purchased the solution we received Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in a bundle with other hardware, such as IP phones and networking switches."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"The price for Cisco is a bit higher than its competitors. We paid 40k for one server."
"​Best to buy all the blades configured for the same purposes of load balancing and failover or load shifting.​"
"The machine is good and has a comparatively good price."
"IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product."
"Why should I be charged for that use rather than a single CPU, a single socket?"
"The price of IBM Power Systems is expensive and could improve."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"The pricing of the solution is very good because we can beat any other competitor with the pricing. Lately, they have offered good pricing for their customer."
"Power Systems is a bit more costly than other products in the market, but in terms of ROI and the longevity, performance, and reliability that Power Systems provides, it's worth it in the long run."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack serv...
What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would n...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems are used mainly in large organizations, generally in the financial industry, government, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors for their high availability environment. These sys...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.